Indian summer
UK /ˈɪn.dɪ.ən ˈsʌ.mə(ɹ)/ · US /ˈɪn.di.ən ˈsʌ.mɚ/ noun
Forms Indian summers
- noun (possibly offensive) A stretch of sunny and warm, often hazy, days during late autumn.
- noun (figuratively) The late autumn of life; a late flowering of activity before old age.
- noun Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see Indian, summer.
Synonyms
St. Luke's summer all-hallown summer St. Martin's summer Michaelmas summer Saint Martin's summer
Etymology
Of North American origin, exact etymology uncertain. The most plausible suggestions are that Native Americans (or American Indians) called it a form of “summer” due to harvesting late plants or preparing for winter, or that European settlers coined it due to various Native American activities in this season, or due to the weather phenomenon being associated with regions inhabited by Native Americans. Alternatively, the use of the word Indian may indicate something deviating from the norm: compare terms like Indian bread, Indian corn.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “Indian summer”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details